A colleague of mine at work has recently had the news that her partner is about to be made redundant and like so many people her age had been spending virtually all their combined income without saving anything for a rainy day. I suppose they are relatively fortunate that she still has a job and that he’s quite prepared to do anything to bring in some money and believes he can pick up some temporary shift work in a factory but it won’t make up for the shortfall. They were faced with a scenario of having to save a few hundred pounds a month if they were to remain with their heads above water and stay solvent so they have had to sit down and analyse their entire spending to see what could be cut back on, what could be cut out all together and what they needed to prioritise like rent.
There were a few quick wins; Sky was cancelled as was gym membership and direct debits to lottery syndicates etc. Charities have been shelved temporarily as have anything that wasn’t vital. She then used the comparison websites to source better deals on the home insurance, car insurance and permanent health insurance. In most cases she was able to save a few pounds to chip away at her shortfall.